[Octopus]: Long time lurker, new octopus owner.

[GrizFyrFyter]

Well, the octopus has been in her tiny cave or about a week and I was getting nervous so I turned her rock over to inspect and I found eggs. I knew she wasn't dead cause she still sends her inspection tentacle out to take the thawed shrimp food offerings but hasn't hunted any hermits in a while.

I have to do some research. Will they lay unfertilized eggs? If they are fertilized (I didn't have her very long), is there any chance of raising them?

I have raised S. Bandensis to maturity before.

 

[DWhatley]

There is a high chance that the eggs are fertile. To determine the plausibility of getting any of them to survive, determining if this is a small or large species is the starting point. Can you get a photo of the eggs and can you give a comparison to a standardized object as a size reference? Small, rice size eggs produce pelagic (free swimming plankton dwellers for the first month or so) young where the larger pea size eggs produce benthic (substrate dwelling at or almost at birth). Home aquarists have been able to raise a few of the later but even public aquariums struggle to even get one of the former to survive more than a month (a week is more common in home aquariums).

We currently have two other members expecting hatchlings. @butler is monitoring his large egg O. briareus eggs here and @sensei his small egg O. vlugaris. Additionally, Raising Octopus Hatchlings Links is a collection of experiences, articles and comments tucked away in our Stickies under Octopus Care

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

I believe it is a pacific pygmy octopus, though still not positive. Mantle is about as big as my thumb. Eggs are slightly larger than a grain of rice.

I'm unable to get a good photo due to the small entrance to her cave.

 

[DWhatley]

Unfortunately, "Pacific pygmy" does not help even as a common name to determine species. However, rice sized eggs will produce pelagic young and there is no real hope for raising them. However, we encourage you to try and to record your observations and efforts. Food seems to be a major part of the problem and there are numerous references to the difficulty and what has been tried in the Raising Octopus Hatchlings Links

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

One of the eggs fell out of her cave. I think a Hermit crab was trying to get them. She ate the Hermit crab.

Any how, I can see a little beastie in the egg, changing colors and moving around. They should be out and about any day now.

 

[Hadla]

you try to eat one of my babies, I’ll eat you!

 

[DWhatley]

Can you tell if she actually ate it or just killed it?

 

[GrizFyrFyter]

Can you tell if she actually ate it or just killed it?

The shell is still in the cave. I can't confirm if she ate it.

I do offer her a piece of thawed shrimp every couple days and she always pulls it back into her cave. But since the entrance to her cave is so small, I can't see if she eats it and I never see the food anywhere else in the tank.

 

[GrizFyrFyter]